Features of the heroic epic using the example of _Songs of Roland - essay.

“The Song of Roland” is one of the most striking works studied in school lessons. foreign literature. Many people like it main character- the glorious knight Roland, who, like a vessel, has absorbed all the most positive qualities, always stands on the side of good, which means that victory in life’s battles will be his.

The characterization of Roland must be considered in sufficient depth so that the full meaning and main idea conveyed in the work.

Roland is a knight, the standard of all the best qualities

The basis of “The Song of Roland” is historical events that actually took place. They were exposed literary comprehension for correct perception by the reader.

The characterization of Roland is quite banal for works of literature of that time. Main character- a knight who seems to embody all the best ideas about the hero that he was seen as in medieval France. Thanks to this essay every reader receives unique opportunity go all the way hard way Roland, our hero’s companions will only be brave at heart People.

Personal qualities

Studying the “Song of Roland”, the characterization of Roland turns out to be almost ideal: he is brave, a patriot to the core, and the main thing for him is to keep his previously given word. Roland is loyal to his king and will never betray him, as he despises traitors. The Christian faith for him is a value that can be called more important than life itself, which is why Roland’s characterization appears in such noble tones, he is the person who puts religion and the church at the top of personal values, only such people medieval France could call them heroes.

And he doesn’t lack courage

Of course, the characterization of Roland as a hero of the time implies that he will be the most valiant and the bravest. At the same time, the author adds one more quality to him: he is as smart as he is brave; probably, it is the merger of these two factors that makes Roland almost invincible in any battles. The main goal in the life of our hero is also formulated quite clearly - the honor of France - the homeland - must be preserved at any cost.

Uneven fight

Even realizing that the last battle described is unequal, Roland accepts it. Of course, a person like him cannot give up, he will fight bravely to the end, even if the end is terrible death. It is also important that the hero devoted the last seconds of his life to thoughts about his beloved country - this is one of the most important moments in the work "The Song of Roland". The characterization of heroes like Roland always follows the same scenario - for your love of your homeland and the church you will definitely deserve eternal life in ballads.

As you can see, Roland is an excellent example of an ideal knight, who were so often praised and presented in literary works of that time.

Image of Charlemagne

The characteristics of Roland and Karl are similar in that both heroes are hyperbolic compared to their real prototypes. And if Roland is the bravest and most faithful knight, then Karl is the wisest, best king. It is interesting that, according to historical data, Karl was only thirty at the time of the start of the Spanish campaign, but our literary Karl is a two-hundred-year-old sage, whose appearance is truly patriarchal. The author also exaggerated the scale of Charles’s possessions, since many of the countries named in the poem were certainly not part of his empire during the period described here. Even the non-existent country of Normandy was also included in his domain. A similar step in literature was often used during the Middle Ages to make the reader admire their hero.

Today Karl would be called a superhero, because only such a person would probably be able to stop the sun in the sky. The power of the influence of Christianity on the literature of that time is also emphasized here, since the sun froze in the sky so that our king could punish all the infidels of the church, thereby guiding other people on the true path who had not yet accepted faith as the only source of truth and enlightenment.

A religious thread runs through the entire poem; we can draw many parallels with biblical stories. Karl and Roland are practically ideal and like apostles. This once again confirms that the literature of that period was quite monotonous and had a single goal - to turn people towards the church.

"The Song of Roland". Folk heroic epic The Middle Ages differs significantly from Homeric poems. Homeric poems, as has been shown, complete the development of the ancient folk epic. Homer relies on myth, glorifying the heroic past of his people, the “glory of men”; its scale is space and humanity. Especially the "Odyssey", with its sophisticated composition, with various literary layers, indicates a transition from the folklore stage to the literary, authorial stage. Medieval epic poems, in comparison with the Homeric epic, seem to return to a typologically earlier, purely folklore stage of literature. They reflected the oral folk art young peoples Western Europe, their passionary impulse, which is based on the spread of Christianity.

These poems took shape over the course of centuries, and were written down almost simultaneously: the best manuscript of the “Song of Roland”, the so-called Oxford manuscript, dates back to the middle of the 12th century; At the same time, the “Song of My Sid” was recorded in a Spanish monastery; at the turn of the 12th-13th centuries, the “Song of the Nibelungs” was recorded in southern Germany. But to what extent does the authorship of the poems belong to the people who recorded them? Were they simply monastic scribes who had before them some more ancient manuscripts that have not reached us, or professional poet-storytellers who were called “jugglers” in France, “huglars” in Spain, and “spielmanns” in Germany? It is impossible to answer this question today. In the last line of the "Song of Roland" a proper name appears: "Turold fell silent." But we know nothing about this Turold, and the assumption that this is the author of the poem is unprovable. The fact is that epic literature The Middle Ages does not know the concept of individual authorship: the text of an epic poem is a collective property, and each new performer, each new copyist felt the right to make changes to it. Therefore, when dealing with the written down, fixed text of the “Song of Roland”, one should be aware that this is one of many actually existing versions of the poem.

"The Song of Roland" - main monument French epic, the richest and most extensive of all the other national epic traditions of Western Europe. It consists of the so-called chansons de geste ("chanson de gesture", or "gesture" for short - a song about an action). Today there are about a hundred gestures created in X-XIII centuries. Wandering singer-jugglers performed gestures to the accompaniment of a harp or viol at fairs and in the castles of feudal lords. The volume of a gesture is from one to twenty thousand verses, that is, a gesture could not always be heard at once, sometimes it took several days to complete.

Gestures could tell about conflicts within the feudal nobility, but the most popular was the Carolingian epic - songs about the so-called "Carolingian revival", about the era of the reign of the historical emperor Charlemagne (reigned from 768 to 814). IN people's memory he overshadowed all the other rulers of his dynasty and turned into an ideal king, the creator of a powerful state and the defender of the faith. "Our Emperor Charles" is one of the main characters in The Song of Roland.

The historical basis of the poem is set out by Frankish and Arab chronicles. At the end of the 8th century, Spain was invaded by the Moors; in 778, 38-year-old Charles (he would not be proclaimed emperor until 800) unsuccessfully intervened in a dispute between Muslim rulers in Spain. This expedition of his was unsuccessful. He was forced to lift the short siege of Zaragoza, and returning to France, he was attacked by detachments of Basques professing Christianity, who wanted to take revenge on the Franks for the destruction of their settlements. The French rearguard was attacked in the gorges of the Roncesvalles gorge in the Pyrenees. The Basques easily gained the upper hand, and among those who fell in this battle, the only chronicle mentions a certain “Hruodland, prefect of the Breton March,” that is, the epic Roland.

The jugglers turned this episode into a picture of Charles's seven-year war with the Saracens for the Christianization of Spain. Once again we encounter a characteristic epic exaggeration of the scale of events, the number of people involved in them, and a rethinking of the significance of these events for the history of the people.

The events of the plot are enlarged. In the seventh year of the war in Spain, having won many victories, Charles receives ambassadors from the last enemy, King Marsilius of Zaragoza, with a false offer of peace. Charles responds to the embassy of Marsilius with the embassy of Ganelon, who must clarify the terms of the truce. Ganelon's name is pronounced at the council by his stepson and Charles's favorite nephew, Count Roland, who himself first volunteered to be an ambassador. But since the Franks remember the fate of their previous ambassadors - all of them were killed by Marsilius - the king forbids Roland to go to the embassy, ​​but agrees to Ganelon’s candidacy. Ganelon immediately accuses Roland of wanting him dead and vows revenge. Arriving in Zaragoza, he enters into a treacherous conspiracy with Marsilius, instilling in him that only the warlike Roland at the court of the old, tired emperor advocates war, and it is necessary to put an end to Roland in order to rid Spain of the Franks. Having brought hostages and gifts from Marsilius to Charles, Ganelon persuades him to appoint Roland as the head of the twenty-thousand-strong French rearguard, which will cover the return of Charles’s main troops, and Roland, with his characteristic daring, accepts this assignment, seeing in it recognition of his military merits.

The plan of Ganelon and Marsilius is carried out. In the Roncesvalles Gorge, hordes of hundreds of thousands of Moors treacherously attack the French. Roland's brother, Olivier, persuades him to blow Olifan's horn three times so that Karl can hear his call and come to his aid, but the proud Roland refuses. He strikes right and left with his blued sword Durendal, rushes across the battlefield on his war horse Veliantif, kills hundreds of Moors, but all this is in vain. In a fierce battle, all the French peers and barons were killed: the reasonable Olivier fell, the penultimate warrior Bishop Turpin died, and, finally, Roland himself, only blowing the horn before his death. Charles returns to his call, mourns the French and arranges the defeat of first the army of Marsilius, and then the Babylonian emir Baligan, who landed in Spain. Thus the correctness of the Christian faith was proven, and the pagans renounced their gods, who could not help them.

In the third part, the action of the poem is immediately transferred to Charles’s capital, Aachen, where the traitor Ganelon was sent for trial. However, the baronial court, consisting of Ganelon’s relatives, acquits him, and justice triumphs only thanks to “God’s court,” that is, a duel between Pinabel, a supporter of Ganelon, and Charles’s faithful servant, Thierry. Thierry gains the upper hand, and Ganelon accepts a painful execution - “let the criminal not boast of treason.” At the end of the poem, the widow Marsilia Bramimonda voluntarily converts to Christianity, and the Archangel Gabriel appears to King Charles in a dream and calls for help to the Christians suffering from the pagans:

As you can see, the composition of the poem is built on the principle of symmetry: each of the three main stages of action consists of two contrasting events. The plot of the poem, the betrayal of Ganelon, includes a description of two embassies - the Moor Blancandrin and the Christian Ganelon. The climax of the poem is a description of two battles, one victorious, the second disastrous for the French. The denouement is retribution for the Muslims and Ganelon.

Compared to Homeric poems, the scope of action in The Song of Roland is narrowed: it is only a military, patriotic and religious epic. Roland's beloved, Lady Alda, is mentioned in only one stanza; Roland himself does not remember her. Only after learning from Karl about the death of the one who “gave an oath to call her his wife,” she immediately dies - “Have mercy on Alda, God!” The heroes have no private life, they are only warriors, diplomats, statesmen, and their value system is subordinated to the concepts of Christian and vassal duty. The author does not show any tolerance towards those who do not share these values. The Moors are shown as idolaters, deprived of light true faith; When they die in battle, these devils go straight to hell. Those of them who refuse to be baptized after the surrender of Zaragoza to Charles are killed on the spot, and epic author says this quite calmly:

The same Christian idea permeates the images of the main epic heroes. Charles is the defender of the south of France from the attacks of the Moors, and the war with them is interpreted as a patriotic war for “sweet France.” Charles's barons are loyal vassals and the best warriors in the world, and the best among them is Roland, who conquered many lands for his king. But, in addition, Roland is also a vassal of God; it is not for nothing that before his death he stretches out his glove to heaven - this is a gesture with which he betrays himself to the Lord, just as a vassal hands over his glove as a sign of loyalty to the overlord. The warrior church is personified in the poem by Archbishop Turpin, who in Roncesvalles absolves the sins of the dying with one hand, and strikes down enemies with the other.

A relatively small element of fantasy in the poem is associated with Christianity. Karl has prophetic dreams. The Archangel Gabriel appears to the king; Through the emperor's prayer, the day is extended: so that he can finish slaughtering the Moors, God stops the sun in heaven. At the hour of the battle in Roncesvalles, a terrible thunderstorm breaks out over France - a cry for the dying Roland.

Accordingly, the characters in the poem are depicted more straightforwardly than Homer's characters. Karl personifies in his gesture statesmanship, Christian virtue, Roland - heroic fury, Olivier - prudent restraint:

All three heroes are opposed to each other, but are united by their love for “dear France,” and they are opposed by the traitor to the interests of the homeland Ganelon.

The poem says that Roland makes a mistake, as a result of which his entire squad and himself die. This mistake is a consequence of his frantic heroism, his faith in his own strength and his high principles:

Roland's tragic mistake is explained and justified by his virtues epic hero, and even though from a Christian point of view the former epic heroism, which fills a person with vanity, is a sin that is subject to atonement, Roland completely atones for his mistake with his feat. His heroism is unbridled and limitless, he is a hero aimed at personal feat for the glory of his king and his God. This is a new version of the epic hero, colored by Christianity, which is why the poem is named after him, the name of Roland.

The Song of Roland in the Oxford manuscript consists of 4002 verses. Like all gestures, it is written in a special strophic form - loess, or otherwise tirades, with a variable number of lines in a stanza, from four to twenty; the lines within the loess are connected by imprecise rhymes - assonances, when the same vowel sounds in each last syllable of each line of a given stanza. French epic verse is a syllabic decasyllable; exact rhymes in French versification will appear later.

"The Song of Roland" uses the same repetitions (often the loess ends with the exclamation "Aoi!"), stable formulas; Its amazing parallelism in the system of images and compositional structure has already been noted.

Arrangements of the “Song of Roland” are known in almost all Romance and Germanic languages.

"The Song of Roland" was recorded at a time when the class of knights with its special ideology had already formed, and chivalric code honor left a well-known imprint on the depiction of the relationship between the heroes of the “Song” (glorification of loyalty to vassal duty, Christian fervor), but in general the value system here is still early feudal. Specifically knightly conflicts will be reflected in the most popular epic genre literature of the high Middle Ages - in the chivalric romance.

Ticket 13.

Heroic epic of the era of feudalism. The main epic cycles of France

Establishment in the 10th-11th centuries. Feudal relations in most countries of Western Europe led to the division of society into two antagonistic classes - feudal lords and serfs. From the 12th century The importance of cities as centers of guild craft and trade, which grew mainly from the settlements of serfs who left feudal estates, is increasing. They create a special, “burgher” (urban) literature, oppositional and democratic in its tendency. Folk poetry has reached us in written records made in the 14th – 15th centuries.

The best preserved is the French heroic epic. It has come down to us in the form of poems ( total number about 100), of which the oldest arose at the very end of the 11th century. The poems that have survived to us are called chanson de gesture (“songs about deeds”). They have different volumes. These poems were intended to be sung. Their performers, and often their authors, were jugglers (“players”), who carried them throughout France.

Three themes make up the main content of the French epic:

defense of the homeland from external enemies– Moors (or Saracens), Normans, Saxons.

· faithful service to the king, protection of his rights and eradication of traitors;

· bloody feudal strife.

The choice of these topics corresponds to political consciousness masses that time. The first two themes are always associated in poems with the image of a good and wise king.

In most poems the king is called Charlemagne, who won many major victories and was crowned emperor in 800. Karl in the poems appears in an idealized form: he is always fair and usually affectionate, although, when necessary, he can also be stern. He is formidable to traitors and invincible in battle. His enemies tremble before him, and God is his helper in all matters. In some of the poems, Karl appears actively, personally performing various feats. But in other poems, moreover, artistically more significant, Karl recedes into the background; he cedes an active role to the paladins (close sent knights), in particular to the twelve “peers” (the most noble persons in the state), primarily Roland.

Ticket 17. “The Song of Roland.” Folk basis poems. Roland's image.

“The Song of Roland” is a poem that had a European resonance and represents one of the peaks of medieval poetry. The poem tells of the heroic death of Count Roland, Charlemagne's nephew, during the battle with the Moors, the betrayal of Roland's stepfather, Ganelon, which was the cause of this disaster, and Charlemagne's revenge for the death of Roland and 12 peers. The Song of Roland originated around 1100, shortly before the first Crusade. Unknown author was not without some education. He saved deep meaning and expressiveness of the ancient heroic legend and found a brilliant way to express them art form. Saturation of the entire story with the idea of ​​the religious struggle against Islam and the special mission of France.

Roland's image. Roland in the poem is a powerful and brilliant knight, impeccable in fulfilling his vassal duty. He is an example of knightly valor and nobility. Roland is alien to selfishness, cruelty, greed, and the anarchic self-will of the feudal lords. There is an excess in it youth forces, joyful faith in the rightness of one’s cause and in one’s luck, a passionate thirst for selfless achievement. Full of proud self-awareness, but at the same time alien to any arrogance or self-interest, he devotes himself entirely to serving the king, people, and homeland. Ardent love for the homeland characterizes all of Charles’s warriors in the poem. But Roland’s patriotic feeling manifests itself most powerfully, for whom there is no more tender and sacred word than “dear France”; he dies with the thought of her. All this makes Roland authentic folk hero, understandable and close to everyone.

The stern style of “The Song of Roland”, its majestic severity and energetic conciseness of presentation, the absence of the theme of love, intimate, comic, and everyday motives are in full accordance with the nature of the plot and ideological plan. Translations of French poems about Roland, their retellings or imitations existed in the Middle Ages in many European languages.

The theme of Ganelon's betrayal. It reflected the socio-political contradictions characteristic of the intensively developing in the 10th - 11th centuries. feudalism. This problem is introduced into the poem by the episode of Ganelon's betrayal. The reason for including this episode in the legend could be the desire of the singers-storytellers to explain the defeat of the “invincible” army of Charlemagne as an external fatal cause. Ganelon is not just a traitor, he is the expression of a powerful evil beginning, hostile to every social cause, the personification of feudal egoism. From the point of view of legal relations of that time, Ganelon’s guilt is not so certain, for, having honestly fulfilled his vassal duty to Charles on the battlefield and during the embassy, ​​Ganelon, formally speaking, could consider himself entitled to lead personal accounts with Roland, his stepson. In "The Song of Roland" the blackness of the act of an individual traitor is not so much revealed as the disastrous nature of home country that feudal, anarchic egoism of which Ganelon is a representative.

Karl's image. Karl is a powerful ruler who has won many major victories. In the poem, he appears in an idealized form: he is always fair and usually affectionate, although, when necessary, he knows how to be stern. He is formidable for traitors and invincible in battle, enemies tremble before him, and God is his helper in all matters.

Ticket 14. "Song of Sid". The originality of the poem. Image of Sid.

The pinnacle of the Spanish folk epic is formed by the tales of Cid.

Sid is a historical person, his actions are depicted in two poems that have come down to us - “The Poem of Sid” and “Rodrigo.” Ruy Diaz, nicknamed Sid. His nickname is a word of Arabic origin meaning "lord". Cid belonged to the highest Castilian nobility and was the commander of all the troops of King Sancho II of Castile. With the next king Alfonso, he began to act against the Moors. The Cid was the largest figure in the reconquista. This made him the greatest national hero Spain, beloved folk hero, “my Sid.” He showed great care and generosity towards his people, extreme simplicity and democracy; all this attracted the hearts of warriors to him and created his popularity among the broad masses of the population. Even during Sid’s life, songs and tales began to be composed about his exploits.

“The Song of Sid” is divided into 3 parts.

· First part (“Song of Exile”). The first exploits of Sid in a foreign land are depicted.

· Second part (“The Wedding Song”). Depicts the conquest of Valencia by the Cid. Sid meets with the king himself. Sid gives his sons-in-law two of his battle swords and gives a rich dowry for his daughters. A description of the magnificent wedding celebrations follows.

· Third part (“Song of Korpes”). The story is told of Sid's triumph over his sons-in-law. New suitors are wooing Sid's daughters - the princes of Navarre and Aragon. The poem ends with a praise to Sid.

Family themes play a prominent role. Family, kindred feelings gradually come to the fore in the poem. There is a clearly expressed anti-aristocratic tendency in the poem. Sid caustically ridicules the various vices of high-born infantes. The hero is presented only as an "infant", i.e. a knight who has vassals, but does not belong to the highest nobility. He is depicted as full of self-awareness and dignity, but at the same time good-natured and simple in his dealings with everyone, alien to any aristocratic arrogance. He appears in the poem as a truly folk hero.

Ticket 15. "Song of the Nibelungs". The main themes, images, originality of the poem.

In the 12th century In Germany, secular fiction appeared for the first time in German, recorded in written monuments. It serves as an expression of the ideology of feudal society. Plots of the German epic of the 12-13th centuries. In their origin, they go back to the tribal epic songs of the era of the “Great Migration of Peoples”. The unification process remained unfinished due to the lack of historical background in feudal-fragmented medieval Germany. Therefore, the medieval German epic is not as national as the French or Spanish epic. The heroic deeds of heroes are limited by personal and family-tribal, tribal and feudal interests. Center epic tales Etzel (Attila) becomes the king of the Huns.

“The Song of the Nibelungs” is an extensive poem consisting of 39 songs (“adventures”) and numbering about 10 thousand verses, combined into stanzas of 4 verses. The poem unfolds an ideal picture of the military and peaceful life of feudal society in the era of the heyday of knightly culture. The epic narrative has moved far away from the style of the short heroic song. It is rich in episodes and descriptive details, conversational scenes and paintings emotional experiences heroes.

At the same time they perform genuine traits heroic folk epic, to which monumental images of heroes and the main motives and dramatic situations epic tale. Such are the young hero Siegfried and his antagonist - “severe Hagen”, a heroic villain, an example of unshakable courage and feudal loyalty of a vassal, ready for exploits and crimes for the sake of the honor and glory of his master; the obstinate bride Brunhild, the culprit of bloody strife, and the meek, loving Kriemhild. From the German epic about Dietrich, the image of Etzel (Attila), as a hospitable and kind, but passive king, and Dietrich of Berne himself with his warriors, the strongest and fairest of the heroes, passes into the Nibelungen.

The plot of the poem contains remnants of earlier stages of the development of the legend: stories about the first exploits of young Siegfried, about his victory over the dragon and his extraction of the Nibelungen treasure, and about the wonderful maiden warrior Brunhild. The tales turned into knightly poems of the 12th century. to traditional fairy tale motif. The inconsistency of epic tales (Scandinavian and German versions) is associated with the usual conditions of development of oral tradition, with the parallel existence of a number of songs representing different versions of the same legend.

Häusler's latest research has shown that the poem is based on two short epic songs corresponding to the two main parts of the poem: a song about Siegfried the matchmaker (Gunther's matchmaking with Brunhild and the murder of Siegfried) and a song about the death of the Burgundians (Kriemhild's revenge). The ideal of a fearless warrior hero is embodied here in the image of Siegfried.

Ticket 12. Courtly literature of the Middle Ages. Troubadours. Chretien de Troyes.

In the 11th – 13th centuries. is developing in France and other European countries secular culture, based on the code of chivalric morality. The cult of the Beautiful Lady arises. At this time there is a reform literary language and versification. The poets of this time were called troubadours.

The lyrics and the novel reach greatest development in France. The center of chivalric poetry is the south of France (Provence), influenced by Arab East. After the collapse of Charlemagne's empire, Provence became independent. The Provençal language developed here from Latin. Provençal poetry is a model for everyone European peoples. Provençal poetry and language survived for 200 years before being annexed by Northern France. The creators of Provençal lyrics were troubadours or trouvères. Science knows about 500 names of troubadour poets.

The main theme of knightly poetry is love. The object of love is married woman, wife of a feudal lord. Therefore, one of the ideas courtly literature is a protest against marriage as a transaction between parents. Poetry describes secret love, the lady's name is not called, because... it could harm her. This is a subtle, refined love. Highest award for a poet - a kiss. The cult of service to the Beautiful Lady has also been developed in literature. Poetry describes original images, positions and situations. Courtly poetry artistically reflects the enormous moral process associated with individual love. Romance. Chivalric prose developed in Northern France. The French chivalric romance became a model for the literature of other countries. Main features:

· The main theme is sublime love.

· Elements of fantasy are often used.

· The plot is based on adventures and exploits of knights.

Until the 13th century. the chivalric romance had a poetic form. Chivalric romances often tell stories about distant peoples and ancient times. An important place is occupied by the depiction of the emotional experiences of the heroes.

Classification by subject:

· “Ancient” cycle (“The Romance of Alexander”, “The Romance of Troy”, “The Romance of Aeneas”).

· The Breton cycle is a series of novels about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

· Byzantine cycle (the main plot is the story of love and forced separation of lovers and their happy meeting, elements of realism are used).

Ticket 21. Novel "Tristan and Isolde". The main themes and characters of the novel.

The work is based on the Celtic tale of Tristan and Isolde.

Tristan lost his parents as a child and was kidnapped by merchants. Having escaped from captivity, he ended up at the court of his uncle King Mark, who was childless and intended to make him his successor. One day Tristan is wounded by a poisoned weapon, and in despair he gets into a boat and sails at random. The wind carries him to Ireland, the queen, not knowing that Tristan killed her brother Morolt ​​in a duel, heals him. Upon Tristan's return, the barons demand that Mark marry and give the country an heir. The king announces that he will marry only the girl who owns the golden hair dropped by a flying swallow. Tristan goes in search of the beauty. He again ends up in Ireland, where he recognizes the royal daughter, Isolde Golden-haired, as the girl who owns the golden hair. Tristan defeated the dragon and received Isolde's hand from the king. On way back Tristan and Isolde mistakenly drink the “love potion” that Isolde’s mother gave her so that she and King Mark would be bound in love forever. Isolde becomes Mark's wife, but secretly meets with Tristan. In the end, the lovers are caught and the court sentences them to death. Tristan manages to escape with Isolde, and they for a long time wandering in the forest. Finally, Mark forgives them on the condition that Tristan goes into exile. In Brittany, Tristan marries another Isolde, nicknamed White-handed. Mortally wounded, he sends true friend to Cornwall to bring him Isolde. If successful, his friend must set up a white sail. The jealous wife tells Tristan to tell him that the sail is black. Hearing this, Tristan dies. Isolde approaches him, lies down with him and also dies. They are buried, and that same night two trees grow from the two graves, the branches of which intertwine.

The author's attitude to the moral and social conflict of Tristan and Isolde with environment dually. On the one hand, he seems to recognize the correctness of the prevailing morality. But at the same time, he does not hide his sympathy for this love. The author is externally saved from contradiction by the motif of the fatal love potion. The novel about Tristan and Isolde caused many imitations in most European countries– in Germany, England, Scandinavia, etc.

Charles is the Frankish king Charlemagne (768-814), crowned Emperor of the West in Rome in 800. During the Spanish campaign he was not yet emperor.

In 778, Charlemagne, who had certain political and economic interests in northeastern Spain, intervened in the internal strife of the Spanish Moors. Called to the aid of Iba al-Arabi, the Muslim ruler in the north of the country, who was displaced by the Cordoban caliph Abderrahman, who sought to create an independent Muslim power in Spain, Charles undertook a campaign in Spain, which led to the creation of the Spanish March (the border region to the Ebro). Charlemagne's campaign in Spain lasted not seven years, but only a few months. However, it is quite possible that even before the composition of the “Song of Roland”, these seven years were already filled with some legends about the death of Roland and twelve peers. Later (in the 13th century), poems describing this period appeared on Italian soil (in a mixed French-Italian language): “Entry into Spain” (the first five years) and “The Capture of Pampeluna” (the last two years).

Charles did not reach the sea in 778; but his son, the future king Louis the Pious, during his father’s lifetime (801) conquered Barcelona, ​​located by the sea.

Marsilius is a name of unclear origin, more Roman in form than Arabic, perhaps fictitious, or perhaps a corruption of the name Amoroz, which was the name, according to Eginchar (9th century), of the Moorish ruler of Zaragoza, who asked Charlemagne to help him against the Emir of Cordoba Abderrahman.

Christian preachers tried to portray the Mohammedans as pagans (“non-Christians”, atheists). Hence the veneration attributed to them ancient god Apollo (Apollen) and the transformation of Mohammed, the founder of the Muslim religion, into a pagan god.

At the end of most tirades there is an “aoi!”, which has not yet found a completely satisfactory explanation. In those tirades where it is placed out of place (sometimes, for example, in the middle), one should see simply the negligence or mistake of the last copyist.

There are several interpretations of this “aoi” (“aoi”), of which the most plausible are the following: 1) “aoi” is something like a refrain, an interjection that is also found in epic poem"Aliskans"; 2) the symbol of musical modulation saeculorum amen (forever and ever) or pax vobiscum (peace be upon you), reproducing the vowels of these words. This interpretation is less plausible than the first.

By “France” in the poem we mean either Ile-de-France or all of Charles’s possessions. The epithet “sweetheart” is one of the “stable epithets” and is used even by the enemies of France.

Faded falcons. - that is, those who have already left the period of molting, which was considered a very dangerous disease for game birds; they were valued much more than those that were yet to come.

In this poem, the French are called, without distinction, the inhabitants of France in in the narrow sense words, then Charles’s subjects in general (together with the inhabitants of the German parts of the empire - Bavarians, Alemanni, etc.).